Ecuador 2012

Optimism Travels to Ecuador

From January 2-15, 2012, eight UW-Whitewater Student Optimists and five advisors/community members traveled to three of the four regions of Ecuador for a service-learning experience. The trip included working with an orphanage, an organic farm, multiple schools, indigenous communities, underprivileged youth, and other groups along the way. Mission trips play an important role in the UW-Whitewater Student Optimist Club’s service to youth. In fact, this has been the eighth since the club’s founding in 1994. Traveling to Ecuador, however, was slightly different due to its ties to LEAP: Liberal Education and America’s Promise. This educational initiative endorsed by UW-Whitewater assisted in connecting the accomplishments of the trip to the practical world through community-based learning.

Part of this skill-based learning occurred before even leaving the United States. UW-W Student Optimists made a conscious effort to collect and purchase donations to help the individuals and organizations in Ecuador become more self-sufficient. Overall, over $3,000 worth of clothing, books, hygiene materials as well as educational and art supplies were brought along to Ecuador. This includes contributions from many clubs in the SWIS District. Outside of these fundraising and donation efforts, the group as a whole was also committed to planning and implementing service during their experience in Ecuador. Travelers met on a weekly basis to coordinate the trip’s organization and planning.

This commitment to service and learning continued well into the trip. According to Student Optimist Elizabeth Bengston, “If there is one thing I learned from this trip, it is how to deal with change of plans and things not going how you expected. Anything that is meant to be will find its way. Even if the immediate results seem disappointing, I guarantee something good will come out of it."

While traveling, the most gratifying experience was for UW-W Student Optimists to build relationships through assisting the natives of Ecuador. One particularly notable event was being able to present a laptop computer to Dario, the owner of Rio Muchacho Organic Farm, to help the farm optimize their efficiency and productivity. Dario was incredibly grateful for the donation and opportunity to spend time with the group because, in his words, “that’s the best food for the spirit.” Upon receiving the new laptop, he named the computer “Optimist” in the group’s honor.

Across the board, travelers agree that service in Ecuador has changed who they are for the better. In the words of Student Optimist Laura Schoenike, “the experiences and relationships we built in Ecuador are helping us to see an entirely different way of life. There may be miles of land and water between Whitewater and Ecuador, but we are forever linked through our common threads of hope and optimism." The relationships built in Ecuador continue to grow and foster through the use of technology.

For more information on the UW-Whitewater Student Optimist Club’s service-learning trip to Ecuador, please contact Kim Adams, Faculty Advisor at 608-201-2151 or adamsk@uww.edu. Also feel free to check out video documentation at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YObDMzR9L9M.

Past blog articles from this service can be viewed at: http://uwwstudentoptimist.blogspot.com/2012_01_01_archive.html